Photographer William Eggleston (the cover of Big Star's Radio City among other things) made a film in the Seventies chronicling life in Memphis. That film, Stranded in Canton, had a series of screenings a few years ago with music by John Coxon and J. Spaceman (both Spiritualized). The results of that collaboration are out now as Music for William Eggleston's Stranded in Canton.
Some numbers here, like "Last week I took a trip", have a basis in the blues, while others are more like incidental music. The diffuse "It's not gospel" marries narration with Southern traditions of the form underlaying that. Elsewhere, "Love for the asking" roars like Royal Trux on a weekend bender. Through all of this, the spoken word portions from the film punctuate the riffs and languid hooks that jostle against each other. The whole offering serves as a soundtrack then, even if you've never seen the film.
More concise than recent offerings from Spiritualized, the compositions here from Coxon and J. Spaceman strike out for new territory. The same influences on their work are present here, just more in the foreground. And while this is a soundtrack, the music is hardly incidental music. Rather this can score any journey a listener is taking, with sounds from the famed musician/photographer's work transposed to new settings.
Music for William Eggleston's Stranded in Canton by John Coxon and J. Spaceman is out now via Fat Possum Records.